


Anna + Leo

by rrrrrocks (hellodickspeight)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Best Friends, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexuality, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Confusion, Crush at First Sight, Eventual Romance, F/F, Falling In Love, Girls Kissing, Lesbian Character, Original Character(s), Questioning, Summer Love, Summer Vacation, Working in a video store
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-02-09 12:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18638227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellodickspeight/pseuds/rrrrrocks
Summary: When summer comes, all Eleonore wants is to see her best friend and find a boyfriend. She's never had one before and at 17, she thinks it's time she gets one. The plan could work if she started working. She'd meet some people... and maybe The One. Except the only person she meets is Anna... and she's never felt that way before about anybody, not even Scott.Anna also has a her own problems. She's bisexual and her dad can't cope. It doesn't help that Leo is the cutest girl she has ever seen before...





	1. Prologue - ANNA

**Author's Note:**

> Hi ! This is my first original work that I ever post for people to read. Please tell me what you think of it !
> 
> I'm writing in English but it isn't my first language so any mistakes are because of that (and probably because sometimes I write at night, ahah)
> 
> I hope you enjoy this !

When I come down to the kitchen, my dad is reading the newspapers. It covers him entirely, and I only know it is him from his fingers gripping the sides of the paper. My mom is next to him, enjoying a cup of tea with a touch of lemon - I know because I can smell it in the air, and because she always does.

Her eyes meet mine and she smiles at me.

"Good morning, Anna," she says warmly.

If I had to describe my mom with one word, it would be it.  _Warm_. She is like when the sun is setting and everything is golden and life just seems good and perfect on that moment. She breathes out warmth, so much that all my friends wish she was their mom - which she sometimes acts like. Dylan and Derek probably confide in with my mom than theirs.

My dad is the exact contrary. He is stoic and cold. He wasn't always that way, but these days he can't even look at me in the eyes. There's always something shielding him from me. This morning; his journal. Most of the time; my mom, though she doesn't know he uses her that way. If he doesn't have a journal or my mom around, he simply leaves any room that he already is in as I walk in.

I remember, only a couple of weeks ago, he would greet me in the kitchen with a cup of coffee because we both drink it the same way. He would run his hand through my hair and undo any kind of hairdo I did that morning - which led me to cut them shorter so they would stop getting messy. My hair is barely touching my shoulders, sign that all this wasn't that long ago, yet it feels like it was a whole life ago.

Now I have to serve my own coffee. I have to smile at my mom, wish her a good morning back. I have to ignore the wall of newspapers as I take my cup to go and get in my car. I have to stop myself from crying before I drive to work.

***

I've had a couple of boyfriends. I wasn't in love with any of them, but I really liked them at the time. I had fun with all of them.

A couple of months ago, I had my first and only girlfriend.

Honestly, I couldn't say it came out as a shock for me. The first time I saw her, I felt electricity go through all my body. She had dimples and the cutest smile. She winked at me - she was a customer at work, I was serving her - as she paid and I just felt it. Her name was Laurence and we dated for a couple of weeks before I decided to bring her home to meet my parents.

My mom welcomed her the best way she knew. She hugged her tight and offered her homemade banana muffins. My dad, who was as warm as my mom at the time, stood himself straight and turned his back to us - to me.

My mom tried everything to make my dad talk to me again. I didn't. I didn't understand - and I still don't. It freezes me, making me unable to make a moves.

Laurence and I broke up not that long after because I couldn't cope with all of this. I mean, I broke up with her. She understood so easily, it almost made me regret it all.

I thought that if I did it, my dad would talk to me again, but I did and he didn't. I know that mom talked to him, told him about the break-up, but he still hasn't said a word to me.


	2. ELEONORE

I've never had a boyfriend. Another school year just ended and the fact didn't change. I've had crushes on guys, and I was sure I would finally make a move this year, I had Scott to coach me to it, and I didn't. I know nothing will change at least before the next year starts and... .

"I wasted a whole year again," I tell my best friend on the phone, once in my bed after the last day of school. "I didn't make a move."

"You didn't waste anything," Scott tries to reassure me, his voice as always soothing my anxieties away, even at the other end of the line. "Also, why do you care about any of this ?

"I wish I knew," I sigh.

I really do. I'm 17. It's not like there is some kind of obligation, not like my mom is constantly rushing me about it either. It's just...I don't know if there's something wrong with me. There's probably something wrong with me. I don't know what it is.

"You never know, maybe you'll get to make a move this summer."

Scott. Always the optimist.

"How ? It's not like I meet people during the summer, you know we always spend them together."

"About that..." Scott hesitates, and I get the feeling that I will not like this. "My parents want me to work this summer. Forces me, actually."

It takes a couple of seconds before his sentence reaches my brain, as if the waves of his voice got lost in my head before reaching the translating-sounds-into-words part.

When it finally reaches it, I feel my heart drop in my thoracic cage.

"What ?" I ask dumbly. "What about our plans ?"

"Leo," my best friend-turned-traitor laughs, "our plans were that we have no plans. It was netflix at your place while your mom's at work, eating all the food in your fridge."

"See, that's a plan."

He doesn't say anything for a while, his breath being the only thing I can hear. I know he struggles to find something to say to comfort me, probably because he doesn't like the idea more than me.

"It's okay," I finally talk. I don't want to make this harder for him. "Maybe I'll find a job, too. That'll be our plan."

The idea came along by itself, coming out of me on its own accord, and now that I've said it, it makes some sense.

"Really ?" Scott sounds excited. "That would be so cool ! It will be our thing this summer."

"Totally."

I smile, starting to feel excited too. I've never had a job, it sounds full of possibilities.

Maybe it's time I start living a little more, start leaving the cocoon Scott and I created for ourselves in our years of friendship.

***

Scott and I met in elementary school. The teacher put us together for an art project and we've been sewn at the hip ever since. We just clicked. Everything comes naturally for us when it comes to our friendship.

As we got older, my mom and my sister Gabrielle were convinced we would end up falling in love, but it never happened. Scott and I always laughed at the thought -- it seemed too ridiculous even then.

If not in love, we still love each other greatly. He is my confidant and I trust him entirely -- I know he feels the same about me.

There's just something special about knowing someone for so long and knowing you can always count on them, no matter what.

It makes it hard to let other people in, knowing their friendship wouldn't come close to the one you already have.

***

When I tell my mom about our working plan, she is excited for Scott and I. She mentions to me all the places she saw "we're hiring !" sign in the windows recently, and I put some of them in my memory as well as I ditch some - I just don't see myself working in a coffee shop. Maybe Scott would like it, though.


	3. ANNA

When I arrive at work that morning, my eyes are slightly red. I take a minute alone in my car to fix myself up, put on some mascara for good measure -- even though I don't put makeup on often, I have an emergency pack in my car for when Dylan forces me to go clubbing with her. It's perfect for situations like this too.

I count three deep breaths before I feel strong enough to get out of my car. Remembering my traveling cup full of coffee, I leave my car and walk toward the video store I have been working at for almost two years now.

I used to work part time but ever since I've been done with school, I've been working there full time and, honestly ? I love it. I love the whole vintage vibe of it, of renting movies on a Friday night and bringing them back the next day. People come here in their pjs, totally uncaring of what people might say -- and people wouldn't say anything because  _they'd get it_. I love the variety of the movies we have, the endless possibilities of combinations of movies.

Most of all, I love scanning the movies and see what people are renting, I love to imagine what their evening is going to be like. I make little scenarios in my head, imagine what my own evening would be like if I rented the exact same movies. For sure, one with horror movies would be filled with Derek making fun of me for being scared to death of them -- anyone of them, even the less scary ones.

As I walk in, I notice a sign at the door that wasn't there the day before. It is basic, a piece of paper with letters traced with a black sharpie on it.

_**RENT IT!** _   
**searches for its new pearl !**   
**Ask Sharon or Josh**

A frown forms itself on my face, I can feel it. I didn't know we are hiring.

Sharon and Josh are both managers of the place, working as a team instead of the usual one boss deal. Both of them are at the counter when I reach it. They must see my confused look because Sharon sighs and shakes her head. Josh is the one to speak.

"It's just for the summer," he assures me.

"Okay," I say because this doesn't really concern me.

"We want you to do the training," Sharon adds.

I guess I was wrong. It does concern me.

I didn't do a lot of the training since I've started, I don't really enjoy it. I can see why they are asking me  _now_ , though. I'm easily the best piece of Rent it!, after Sharon and Josh themselves, and I've been there the longest. I know the video store like the back of my hand.

I just hope this one training won't be a catastrophe, like was the last one I was in charge of. Nobody wants to put out a fire -- again.

***

"You should hire me," Dylan tells me when I explain to her and her twin brother the situation I am in.

Derek scoffs behind her, putting a smile on my face. I get what he means; Dylan wouldn't last a day at the store.

She senses our thought because she throws a pillow in her brother's direction before punching my arm lightly.

"You guys are always so rude with me," she complains. "I can work, okay ?"

"Can you ?" Derek asks with interest. "Last time you tried to work, you didn't even get up in time for your first day."

"It wasn't my calling, after all !"

"Anyway it wouldn't work," I interrupt their bickering. "Sharon and Josh are the one hiring and Sharon is hard and ruthless. She knows we're friends and she wouldn't want us to talk too much instead of working."

"How hard is working at a video store ? I just need to place back dvds."

I shake my head, resigned that I can't change her mind.

"Try it, then."


	4. ELEONORE

I’m going to miss my bus, I’m almost sure of it.  

I woke up at the right time. I took a shower, put on the clothes I chose the day before to save time, then had breakfast. I didn’t rush because I didn’t need to, I took the first bus perfectly on time.

Except it took three minutes more than it was supposed to get to my stop, and my second bus is supposed to pass four minutes later, at the next street’s corner.

I don’t see the bus coming, but I am stuck at the red light and this one takes forever to change. I just truly feel like I am going to miss my bus, unless the light turns green in the next second.

It all happens at the same time:

The light turns green;  
The bus appears at the horizon, it is coming;  
A girl passes across from me;  
Something falls from her purse.

Without thinking, even if I am almost midway from my stop, midway to not miss my bus, I bend down to pick it up - it’s a phone ! - and run back to give it to her.

When I touch her shoulder, she jumps back a little and her face shows her confusion when she looks at me. Her eyes opens in surprise when I hand to her the small device and I get lost in them for a second.

“You dropped it,” I say to her as an explanation, because I have to say something to pull me out of this state.

She takes the phone from my hand, relief taking over the surprise.

“Wow, thank you so much !”

Her voice is soft and warm, like a blanket. The comparison pulls a smile out of me and she smiles back at me.

Something twists inside of me. The satisfaction that I did a good thing.

Until I turn around and see my bus leaving the stop - and the light is back to red for me. I did miss my bus.

***

“You missed your bus because you picked up some girl’s phone ?” Scott laughs at me. “Leo, you’re too nice.”

“I know,” I groan. “She looked so relieved, though. I did a good thing.”

I remember her eyes: they were beautiful, green with yellow spots that looked like gold stars.

And her smile was perfect. She had a dimple on her right side, it was adorable.

A part of me wish I was that beautiful - I just remembered she had pastel pink hair, could I pull that off ? - while the other part of me simply appreciates how pretty she looked.

“Anyway,” I have to change the subject and not think about this random girl. “How was your first day at work ?”

Scott did want to work at the coffee my mom had mentioned to me, Black Beans, and his training started today, just like mine was supposed to. That is, if I hadn’t been late. I’m probably the first person to ever get fired before even my first day started.

“It was amazing,” my best friend enthusiasts himself. I truly love this side of him that gets excited for pretty much anything. “They started me right away on the machine, they say I have a natural talent for latte art.”

“And I guess you didn’t tell them you’ve been doing art all your life ?”

“I like being a natural talent,” he simply says, his smile clear even through the phone. “What about you, though ?”

I sigh, knowing I can’t escape this anymore.

“It didn’t work out. But, you know, maybe working at a fast food wasn’t for me anyway.”

“I didn’t believe it. You’re way too smart.”

“Thank you, Scott,” I say heartily.

“I’m always there for you, Leo.”

That, I know.

***

Since pretty much forever, whenever I feel down, I always rely on the stars to cheer me up. Some people believe in God; I believe in the stars.

I was born with the constellation of Leo on my arm, that’s why my parents named me Eleonore. My dad was an astrologist and he spotted it only a few hours before they registered me, changed my name at the last minute.

When he died, I couldn’t talk for the first couple of days. I couldn’t sleep. Watching the stars at night was the only thing making me feel slightly better, if only because I felt close to him.

Tonight, I watch the stars and I pray to them, or maybe to my dad, I haven’t been sure. I ask for a job, and for a boyfriend.

If I ask them to find me one with green and gold eyes, I’m the only one to know.


	5. ANNA

That morning again, my dad shields himself from me. It is getting to the point where I wake up with a nervous knot inside my throat, knowing that I will come down and see him ignore me. He doesn’t even try to be subtle and sometimes I wish he did.

That morning, I don’t even take my coffee to go. I tell myself I will get one on the way and walk past him without a word.

***

Sharon gives a work vest to Dylan, under my unbelieving eyes. She is actually trying her, knowing very well that she is my best friend.

She hands Dylan a name tag that has her name on a label, easy to take off if she is to quit or fail, that my best friend attaches to the neon green and purple vest.

The vests here are part of what made me want to work here in the first place, with their bright colours and their look taken out of the 80’s. In addition to the green and purple vest, there is a yellow cap with RENT IT! written in electric blue on it that we have to wear but almost never do -- she gives her one for the form more than anything.

Dylan surprises me when she puts it on. It almost hide completely her short dark hair, accentuating even more her boyish look.

“You’re ready to go,” Sharon says with a smile to my best friend.

“Anna, you take her in your charge ?”

She asks that as if Josh and her hadn’t already ask me to do the training.

I nod at her and she smiles one last time before leaving us.

Dylan let go of a sign of excitement and turns on herself.

“You were so sure she wouldn’t hire me but look ! Look at me ! I have all the merch.”

“That’s not merch, that’s an uniform.”

I smile despite myself - she is acting way too sweet for me not to.

“What are we starting with ?” she asks me, eager to start.

I’ve never seen Dylan excited like this and I really hope that Sharon will allow her to stay. I take upon myself to not sink her and start showing her the work.

My best friend surprises me, she actually listen and watches what I am showing her. Time flies by quickly and before I know it, it is lunch time.

I left too quickly this morning so we return to the coffee shop I went to get coffee the same day. The dark skinned guy behind the counter struggles with the cashier but I smile at him kindly -- he is pretty cute, with retro looking glasses and a buzzcut on each side of his head while the top of his head is slightly longer. He flashes me a  _good_  smile as he hands me my order.

It’s in times like these that I am reminded of how  _bi_  I am.

This morning, I had dropped my phone and the most pretty girl I’ve ever saw catched it for me. She had long brown hair and hazel eyes that catched the sun in orange hues. She had freckles all over her nose and under her eyes and I could totally imagine myself losing myself in them for hours, trying to see if they’re shaped like constellations or not.

A couple of hours later, here I am at my usual coffee shop, Black Beans, and there is this adorable, confused looking, new guy and I can imagine myself dating  _either one._

Except that it’s not what I am looking for at the moment. It’s been a couple of months since my last girlfriend, and I am definitly over her but I don’t know if I could deal with my dad not accepting someone else.

Dylan pokes me on the arm, waking me up from my thoughts.

“What’s up ?” she asks me. “You seem worried.”

I force myself to smile. I don’t want to worry her for no reason.

“It’s nothing. Just thinking about my dad.”

She winces visibly. “No wonder you are making that face. What has he done now ?”

“Nothing.” That’s pretty much the problem, I say to myself. “I was just wondering if he would ever accept any one I’m dating.”

“Maybe if it’s a guy,” my best friend shrugs.

And that’s it. I like both girls and boys. All I have to do is be with a boy.

My gaze falls back upon the new guy at the counter. He’s focusing on a drink and, from my point of view, he looks more confident at this than the cashier. Confidence looks good on him, his smile is easy.

Can I just date him ?

*

Dylan and I end up talking about this as we get back to work. We’re sorting out the dvds by genre so we can put them back in their place.

“Are you going to date a guy just to date a guy, though ?” She asks me.

I kinda wonder what is her point.

“Don’t you date guys just to be dating guys ?”

“But I don’t have as many options as you do.”

“Being bi doesn’t mean I am interested in a _ll guys and girls_ ,” I remind her, rolling my eyes. “That guy was cute.”

“You should ask him out, then,” she decides for me. “And if your dad likes him, that’s a big plus.”

“It is.”

I still have some reserve. I don’t want to ask anyone out just to please my dad. I don’t want to  _use_  any one. What if we date and it turns out I don’t like him as much as he likes me and I have to break up with him ? It happens all the times, but all I would have in mind is that I started dating him because I wanted to have my dad back. It is not right.

*

At the end of the day, Sharon takes Dylan on the side and I know what is happening without even looking.

Dylan comes back to me without her uniform and I know, even if she has a smile on her smile.

“Because we talked ?” I ask her.

“Yeah, but, you know what ? It was a great day. And I showed my brother that I  _c_ _an_ so this !” As we reach my car she adds: “do you think I can put this day on my resume ?”


	6. ELEONORE

Something is ringing and it takes my dazed up mind forever before realizing it is the phone on my bedside table. I open my eyes into the darkness still present in the room and this is how I realize this is no hour to receive a call.

My sister's face takes up all the phone's screen when I finally grab it and, of course, it is her. Only she would wake me up in the dead of night. She lives on the other side of the country and she still doesn't get the notion of  _time difference_.

"What ?" I ask her en guise of an hello.

"Leo ! I'm so, so sorry for waking you up but I wanted to tell you first !" Gabrielle starts excitedly. She pauses dramatically, and, before I can urge her to continue, she shouts it. "You're going to be an aunt !"

I have no reaction. My brain is still foggy from sleepiness. I feel myself blink a few time. "What ?"

"I am pregnant !"

The information finally sinks in and I jump out of bed hastily. "What !"

Gabrielle laughs at the other end of the line and I realize I should probably say something else. I have an excuse, though, it is not even 6 am.

"I can't believe," I settle on.

"You better believe it because it is very real !" She laughs again and I think that, this time, it is nervous a little bit. "Also, that brings another good news. We're moving back home ! I told Matthew that I needed my mom close and he understands."

"What ?" I ask again because this is like a dream come true.

Gabrielle and I have a couple of years of age difference but, and maybe it explains it actually, she has always been my confident and I miss her having around. Skype and phone calls are just not the same.

Thankfully, I've had Scott to make up for her loss. He's the best.

Gabrielle and I hang up one hour later, when I am too awake to go back to sleep. I decide to take on me and go back on another round of resumes. I can't believe I haven't found a job yet, I should have taken the job at Black Beans instead of Scott.

Talking about Black Beans, I know Scott is working that morning, maybe I could have breakfast there before starting my day ? I am dying to see him in "working" mode.

I ask my mom for some money - Gabrielle woke her up too -- and she lends me some, making me promise to give her back once I get a job. I roll my eyes at this. By the look of it, this isn't happening any time soon.

 

By the time I reach the coffee shop, it is past 9 and Scott is definitely in. He is standing right in front, behind the cashier, and his dark eyes open wide behind his glasses when he sees me walk the door.

"What are you doing here ?" he shouts as he moves.

He looks as if he is trying to see if he should jump over the counter or not to hug me. I stop his struggle by coming closer and hugging him over the counter. It is not an easy task since I am a pretty small girl but it ends up working fine when he gets what I am trying to do.

"I came for breakfast, and to see you," I smile.

"I'm so glad ! I feel we didn't see each other in a week."

Thinking about it, I realize he is right. The last time was at the last day of school and it has been a week. We only talked on the phone ever since.

"I guess you've been too busy for your best friend," I joke with a small punch on his arm.

He let go of a small laugh that ends with a smile.

"I'll never be too busy for you, Leo."

His eyes on me are soft and tender and, sometimes, I get why my mom and Gabrielle wanted us to date. Only I know these eyes are purely platonic, as mine are towards him. We're best friends in the whole entire world and that's the greatest thing on its own.

Feeling this wave of affection, I get closer to him, again as much as I can from my 5'2" with a counter between us, and he gets what I want and hug me again.

"What do you have to offer me ?" I ask him after, remembering why I came here.

He shows me the menu, pointing out the drinks I would probably prefer -- nothing with just coffee, for starter. I choose one as well as a pastry to eat, then I have no choice but to sit since a queue is growing behind me.

Ten minutes later, the rush goes down and Scott joins me at my table with a pastry for himself.

"I have a fifteen minutes break, what are the news ?"

I tell him about Gabrielle being pregnant, and we talk about that for a while. He is as excited as I am about it which I think is really great, it shows how family my best friend actually is.

"And did you find a job ?" he finally ask the question I was fearing. My silent is eloquent enough and he continues. "Did you try the video store next door ? I saw a sign the other day, maybe they are still looking."

I look out of the window and try to see which store he is talking about. I didn't even know there was anything here !

I finally see it and it is actually hard to miss with the huge purple sign. I wonder how I did miss it.

Later as I walk toward it, I thank myself for bringing resumes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any comments/suggestions please feel free to tell me !!  
> Hope you're enjoying this story this far. Thank you for reading !!


	7. ANNA

I'm taking advantage of my day off with Dylan and Derek. My dad is already at work when I wake up so they come over and crash in front of a movie with popcorn and candies. For a moment, it feels like nothing ever changed and it was six months ago.

My best friends are arguing about something in the movie, making me smile and wish I had a sibling to argue with - when my phone vibrates in my pocket.

My heart beats faster with excitement when I see it's the Black Beans guy.

 _ **are we still on for tonight ?**_ he texts me.

A smile grows in my face, I feel it on my cheeks. Putting a pink strand of hair behind my ear, I sit straighter and reply quickly.

**_Yes ! If you still want to._ **

I know that I do. I still can't believe I chose to try and date him when I was so unsure, but feeling the excitement in my heart at the moment, it makes everything just  _right._

His answer comes quickly:  _ **of course !! I feared you would back down**_

I chuckle, and this is what get back Derek's attention.

"Dylan, we'll talk about this later," I hear him say as I send another text. "Anna, what're you hiding ?"

He hits me in the arm for good measure while I roll my eyes.

"I'm not hiding anything," I tell him. "Dylan knows about it."

He gasps loudly. "Anna, you know better than to keep one twin out of the loop !" he shouts, then look over at Dylan with betrayal all over his face. "You didn't tell me anything ?"

She shrugs with disinterest over him. "What is he saying ?"

"Just checking up if I still want to date him."

"And you do ?" Derek asks, eager to know about everything in this story.

I roll my eyes at him. "I do."

"Great, now tell me everything."

***

Derek helps me getting ready for it. Dylan has to go but he insists on staying, saying things like "I am a guy, I know what guys like."

He vetos a couple of my pieces of clothes, some of them being my favorites. He settles for a dress that I put on in the room as he looks the other way. I wouldn't care if he didn't but I appreciate the respectful gesture.

He eclipsed himself to get some water as I work on my make-up when I hear the front door closing loudly.

My heart starts beating faster; it knows it's my dad. I usually try and leave the house until much later, so I can come back incognito. I don't remember the last time I was home when my dad arrived from work.

Derek is never coming back, it seems, so I leave my room once I'm ready, bracing myself to my dad ignoring me, knowing that it will still hurts even if I get ready for it.

The kitchen is filled with the smell of sweet onion cooking in a pan -- my dad is preparing the supper. When I walk in, I see him with his back to me. It makes everything easier, I can just walk past him quickly to join Derek at the kitchen table.

Except that the kitchen's floor always creaked, and it is no exception when I pass this time. It makes my dad's head turn to see who it is.

As his gaze falls on me, I freeze. It is the first time he seems as if he is actually seeing me, and his eyes aren't the same cold blue they usually are when I am in the room, they are greener. I used to see them that colour all the time. When I was a kid, when they turned blue it meant I had done something wrong. I guess that didn't actually change.

"Anna, are you okay ?" he speaks to me and  _I can't believe it._

My dad hasn't spoken to me in months, I barely heard his voice in that time, let alone hear him say my  _name_.

I feel a knot in my throat that cannot loosen up, I am too shocked, too overwhelmed. I want to cry, maybe of happiness. Everything is so sudden and makes no sense, so I escape. I touch Derek's shoulder on my way out and he follows me without a word.

My best friend gives me the time as we sit in my car in silence. I didn't start it, I didn't even put the key in the ignition.

Finally, after a while, Derek decides he's had enough of this silence.

"He asked me what I was doing here and I told him I was helping you getting ready for your date," he starts to explain. "He asked with who, and I said some guy. That must have been enough for him."

It makes some sense, now, why he talked to me. Still, I can't believe the plan actually worked. I shake my head. It's not a plan, it's a date with a cute guy.

"Wasn't it what you wanted ?" Derek asks me.

"I thought about it," I admit to him."Dating a guy just so he'd stop being mad at me."

"So that's good ?" Derek asks.

"I feel weird."

I can't explain it. If it had been a plan all along, it probably would feel great. My dad was  _looking at me._  He  _said my name_. For the first time in months. It's the greatest accomplishment it could have.

It wasn't a plan, though, and I really don't want to use this guy just to get closer to my dad. There's a pang in my chest just thinking about it, a mix of guilt and sadness.

I can't do this.

"Can I stay at your place for a while ?" I ask Derek, turning my head to look at him.

"What about your date ?" The blue eyes of my friend are wide in surprise.

I always liked the contrast of my dad's and the twins'. The twins' eyes can be warm even in their cold colour. Derek's one are filled with care and worry for me.

"I can't go now." I hope it answers enough for him. "But I don't want to see my dad, I'll just go home later when my parents are asleep."

Derek nods his agreement and I finally start the car.


	8. ELEONORE

Nervousity feels my body entirely. My foot keeps tapping against the floor, my hands are jittery and shaking, and I feel  _way too hot_. I actually feel like I could faint.

I hadn't felt that nervous at that other first day, but maybe it was maybe I only partly wanted to work at the restaurant. This, though, the video store, it sounds like a chance.

The woman I met - Shannon ? Sharon ? Definitely Sharon - seemed hard but kind. She understood it is my best job as long as I understood that I still had to be serious -- an agreement I can definitely get behind.

I planned smart, this morning. Putting all chances with me, I left thirty minutes early, so that any late bus wouldn't put  _me_  late. I don't want to live again the fiasco of my first ever day at work.

As the bus is actually late, I congratulate myself on being so smart. It only slows down my heart a little when the bus comes into view.

***

I manage to arrive on time and Sharon, a tall woman with a high loose bun who doesn't look a day over 30, greets me with a handshake.

She gives me a Rent it! vest - it looks taken straight out of the 80's with its purple and neon green - and a name tag. It feels like a medal or something.  _Congratulations ! You now have your first job !_ Something like that.

A talkie walkie hangs on her hips and she calls out for someone in it as she indicates me to wait. I wonder if I will have one of these or if it is only the bosses who needs them.

That's when I see her. The girl with pink hair, the one who had dropped her phone two days ago.

She is walking between two alleys of movies, her head and neck the only parts visible over them and she walks towards us with.

_I can't believe it._ What were the chances ?

My nervousness comes back as suddenly as it had left when I put the first step in here. My heart beats so fast it feels like it's going to jump out of my thoracic cage. I try to move my foot, feeling like I have to move, but I can't. I'm frozen in place and she is getting closer, closer, until she reaches us.

Her eyes - green and gold, again, still - are opened in the same surprise as the other day when she recognizes me. I mean, I think she recognizes me. I hope she does.

"Anna, this is Eleonore," Sharon does the presentations. "Your new trainee."

Anna flashes me the brightest smile and holds out her hand. I take it more by habit, my brain is all foggy and slow.

After a second that feels like a whole minute, I realize that I have to  _shake it_. I do it after a beat and Anna laughs a bit.

"Pleased to meet you," I think she says.

_I have to get out of this state._  

It takes me a few seconds before I say it back but when I do, I'm officially out of my frozen state. I hear everything, to the movie playing in the tellies everywhere -- why do movie rental do this ? -- to Sharon talking with a guy at the customer desk. I didn't see her leave us.

"You're the girl who saved my phone, right ?" Anna asks me.

I love her name, it fits her wonderfully.

I nod slightly, feeling my cheeks heat a little. I don't know why I'm acting this way, but I have to compose myself.

"Thanks again. I'm excited about us working together," she says with another smile. She sounds sincere and I get lost in her kind eyes.

She is pretty and I wish I could be like her. She is flat where I have fat and have the brightest eyes. Mine are brown and who even like brown eyes ? They're dark and empty.

The more I look at her hair, the more I know I couldn't pull pink hair like this. There's an attitude to it that I just don't have.

***

"You're a very fast learner," Anna tells me a little bite before lunch.

I thank her with a smile. In the last hours, I've managed to get back to my regular self. I think the novelty of the new job was a big part of it and now that I saw that this is pretty easy and simple, I'm good again.

"We have a hour of lunch. If you want there's an employees' room, or there is the coffee shop just next to us, I always go there."

"Oh, my best friend works there !"

"Really ? I've probably seen him."

I don't say she probably did because he's been working  _all the time_ since he started but the thought crossed my mind.

At lunch time, there's a moment where Anna stands by my side, hovering, and I wonder if she wants us to have lunch together.

She is putting a strand of pink hair behind her ear absently when I find the guts to ask her.

"Do you want to have lunch together ?"

The smile she gives me is magnificent. It twists something in my belly.

***

I call Scott immediately when I get home. I want to tell him about my day and live this excitement with him.

"Hello ?" he answers after a couple of rings.

"Scott ! I have such a great first day !" I start off, and I don't stop.

I tell him about how Anna is the girl who made me late -- though I didn't tell her that -- and how she showed me everything, how sweet she is and that I love her hair. I've been talking for a good five minutes when he stops me with a laugh.

"Okay, and the work ? Is it hard ?"

I pause for a second, realizing I've been talking about my coworker the whole time. My stomach twists again, I feel my cheeks heating up. "It's nice, it's all very easy, I think I'll do pretty good there. The boss, Sharon, complimented my work at the end of the day."

I feel proud, I have to admit. Even if it is a summer job, even if it is super easy.

"That's really cool, Leo. I'm so happy we're work neighbors ! Will you come eat at my coffee shop once you get your first pay ?"

"Of course ! You'll see my face a whole lot more then," I joke.

He laughs, too, and I suddenly remember why I didn't talk to my best friend the day before.

"Scotty, are you holding out on me ? You didn't tell me about your date yesterday !"

"Oh, that's because it didn't happen. It's no big deal."

He sounds nonchalant but I know better.

"Did she say why ?"

"No and she totally stood me up, which is weird because she confirmed earlier that we were good, you know ?" I do know. "Anyway, that's life. We didn't know each other so it's cool, it's not like I'm heartbroken."

I understand what he means but I still feel like I need to say it.

"Scott, you're amazing and my best friend in the whole world. Don't worry, you'll find the perfect girl."

 


End file.
